A Cupful of Summer
by Pocky King Windy
Summary: Yaoi: Ken x Ran - In the heat of summer, Aya fixes a drink for Ken...


A Cupful of Summer

いっぱい夏

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Takehito Koyasu © or Project Weiß ©. The fanfiction belongs to me.

Warning: Yaoi. Trust me, if you flame despite these warnings… well, I can only say that you're retarded.

Plot Cockroach: One other good source of inspiration to write comes from, as I discovered, web materials. I've seen a really beautiful idea and I think it… well! It's fitting! Sweet and easy, na no da, cheerful in the face of summer… I've been neglecting Weiß for far too long now! So, it's a good idea for me to write one on my favorite pairing again! I'm sorry! I've been so busy na no da! But with red hair comes great ideas! ^__^ Mine's strawberry daiquiri red! Fwees! Major fluffiness!

Pairing: Ken x Ran

Note: The characters look like that from the manga. I think this background (if you're reading this from my site) is wonderful! That really inspired me to write this! I hope that anyone who writes can look at web materials and develop a taste for the lovely, it's good na no da! Hope you enjoy this!

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It was a warm, warm summer day.

Warm; very warm.

Yohji was practically frying. He stretched, yawned and groaned and a wave of really hot air hit him in his face. The brunet grimaced. Seriously, this heat wave would earn him a few wrinkles before he even reached thirty!

"Not a good idea at all…" he sighed, sitting up and getting ready to stand. The shower was on, indicating that someone was taking a bath, and also that he hadn't a chance to cool down that way. Lifting a brow, he looked around. Omi wasn't in either; he was out with his friends, or probably, in Yohji's mind, dating those pretty underage schoolgirls "Guess that leaves me the pub…"

"Hey Yohji!"

The door swung open and Ken unceremoniously dumped the football on Yohji's stomach. He grinned upon seeing Yohji's disgust at his ruined dress shirt.

"You did that on purpose!"

"You needed a bath anyway," Ken quipped, getting a can of Gatorade out of the fridge, still grinning. "You've been lying there since the heat wave came about… say, two weeks ago?"

"What are you implying?" Yohji crossed his arms, smirking.

"You're a dirty, dirty man, Yohji. With a dirty, dirty heart to go with that," the brunet's grinned widened by inches. "No, seriously. You should be proud of your… _accomplishments_."

"You actually _know_ the word 'accomplishments'?" Yohji laughed. "That's four syllables there, KenKen. Whoa."

"Hey, thanks to you, anyway!"

"About time you took some lessons," Yohji smirked. "I'm going out, KenKen. Don't wait up for me."

"You're not gonna change out of that?" Ken asked pointedly at Yohji's shirt, which was stained with mud from his football. At that, Yohji smirked harder.

"Nah. I won't even need that," the tall brunet unbuttoned it, slipped out and flung it at Ken. Laughing, he strode out of the door. Ken stared after him. He shook his head.

"I wonder where Aya is…"

It had become a routine now. Ken was somehow blessed, or even cursed, with a bee in his bonnet about the redhead. He liked Aya. He genuinely did. It wasn't because Aya was 'hot', or sexy, nor even because he looked pretty with those long momiage curling just so gently at their ends. Ken just liked him. There was something about Aya that looked… so completely lost.

"… Just begging to be freed," Ken mused out loud.

"Free what?"

To his horror, the redhead in question had overheard his reflections! Ken laughed nervously, scratching his head. "Err, well, um… something. Anyway, hey, you wanna drink or something?"

Aya thought for a moment. "Okay…"

Heat waves did things to people.

Fujimiya Aya had just agreed to have a drink with Hidaka Ken.

"There's a sachet of orange tea in the cabinet, second one from your left when you enter. It makes enough for six, but let's just use it anyway," Aya instructed further. "There're also two packets of ice-cubes I just got from the gas station. Be sure to use those."

If heat waves did things to people, Aya must've gotten heatstroke. Ken blinked at him, bug-eyed.

"On another thought, I'll do it," Aya smiled faintly at Ken's disbelieve, earning him a look that told him that if Ken bug-eyed more, his eyes would pop out of their sockets.

Without any further words, the redhead made his way to the kitchen, leaving a stunned Ken behind. He felt a little hurt, but he knew that he had been rather cold as well. He just… couldn't blame the brunet for being so wary of his ways. Ken was, after all, a tender guy, a kindly person who was warm and friendly, and simply put, worlds apart from his own.

But you know… it would be nice to have a nice sit-down with him on a warm summer afternoon.

Leaving the water to boil, Aya hunted around for the bottle of rum he had hidden from the prying eyes of Yohji, an orange, Omi's soda and a strainer. He took out a glass punch bowl from the box, washing and rinsing it clean, then wiping it dry. The kettle made a clucking noise and Aya turned around, shaking his head smilingly. It had been a good idea for them to buy that chicken-shaped kettle they were now all fond of.

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Ken sat down listlessly. Not that he was feeling lethargic, just overwhelmed, perhaps. Seeing that smile… Ken closed his eyes, replaying that scene over and over again, and how when Aya had walked by, smelling faintly of apples soaked in the sun…

The clucking of their chicken-shaped kettle snapped him out of his reverie. With a silly grin on his face, he too made his way to the kitchen. In his heart of hearts, he knew that Aya was a nice person, who would probably have felt hurt by his disbelieve, and Ken was all set to make sure he said 'sorry' and Aya would at least listen to him and know that he was sorry, even if he wouldn't forgive him.

"Hey, Aya."

Aya spun around and looked at him before resuming his task. Ken felt relieved; he hadn't traced any anger or sadness in Aya's eyes. "Hey, I'm, uh, sorry…"

"For what?" the redhead strained the tea mixture into the punch bowl, setting it aside to cool.

"For not… well, for my rude disbelieve. You're a nice guy, Aya; I just… well, I didn't think you liked me enough to… um, smile like that. No, it really looked nice! It's really pretty! Like I've dreamt of…" Ken goggled, realizing too late the words he had uttered.

_Nuts! Stupid Ken! Go eat your stupid head!_

"Uh, sorry! No, I didn't mean what I said… I mean, I did, but not in that way… ah, freak this…"

"You… dreamt of me?"

"I um… yeah," Ken decided to go for broke. He wasn't good at lying, anyway. "I did. I'm so sorry! Let me make this up to you… I'll… I'll uh… I'll pay you! Yeah ---"

"Thank you."

"…Huh?" Ken stopped short. Had Aya just… thanked him?

The redhead shyly tugged at his momiage, looking away. "I've just… never been liked much, I guess. I've been so cold. I know that. So, thank you."

Ken was going to melt. He was going to melt into a puddle of Ken goo and never wake up again. Aya had smiled. Aya had said he would make tea for them. Aya had walked by, smelling so sweetly of apples. And on top of that, Aya was talking to him and thanking him for his affection.

The redhead, taking Ken's silence as disgust, turned away. "Forgive me…"

_AAAAH! No! Aya! Stupid Ken! Go eat your stupid, stupid head!_

"No, no! It's not like that! I'm shocked with happiness! I truly am!" Ken now honestly felt like kicking his own sad behind. Oh, yeah, that was a wonderful confession indeed. "Look, I… Aya… I think… maybe you'd feel disgusted and all, and all that, but I, uh… man, this is so ridiculous… will you marry me? NO! Heck! I mean; I really like you. Like, totally."

Aya looked up, and for the first time in his life, he heard the redhead laugh. It wasn't that cold, bitter laugh, but it was pure and true. At that moment, Aya was completely the epitome of summer cheer.

"You're really… funny, Hidaka," Aya smiled, his words dying down and carried away by the sudden breeze that invaded their sunny little kitchen. The bowl next to him had already cooled down and stopped steaming. Ken stared on, into deep pools of wisteria wine, and he felt complete.

Completely lost… and yet so found.

Ken didn't understand Aya. He never could, not even now. But he knew that it was too soon to give up. Besides, he was sure that there was a past to Fujimiya Aya. He somehow knew that he was a boy once, who smiled, but had lost his name to the lifeblood of others.

"Aya…?"

"Don't call me that," the redhead turned away to finish up the drink he was making. Pouring in the rum and soda, he stirred it with a ladle before turning in the oranges he had skinned and removed the whites of. "…I'm… My name is Ran."

Ken was now truly the luckiest man on earth.

"So, Ran…?"

"Yes?" he dropped the ice cubes in and stirred the drink once more. Under the sunlight, it looked like amber gold.

"Do you… how do you feel about this?" Ken asked boldly. Ran stopped short, thoughtfully stirring still. He then picked up a spoon, and tasted the drink. The redhead slowly turned around, dropping the spoon into the sink.

"…Special." He leaned in and pecked the brunet on his cheek. Then, as abruptly as he started, he pulled away, blushing. Ken would have stood agape, but he fought that feeling of euphoria.

Without thinking, the brunet had caught hold of the redhead and kissed the breath out of him, the faint scent of apples growing stronger and stronger as time ticked by. On Ran, he tasted the drink, their cupful of cheer. Sweet, wispy and breathless… an epitome of summer happiness.

~*~*~ End ~*~*~

Note: Ahh! I'm so sorry I left Omi and Yohji out na no da! Initially I wanted them to join in the drink too! But… heh, heh! I just couldn't ruin the mood for Ran and Ken! Hope this was fine! Fwees! I feel accomplished! ^___^


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